City Residents Discuss Benefits, Dangers Of Expanded Tourism

November 11, 1993|by THOMAS KUPPER, The Morning Call

Like many Bethlehem residents, John Gatewood wasn't sure what to think when he heard the tourism authority was considering pouring millions of dollars into a massive, long-range campaign to attract visitors.

He describes himself as an ordinary citizen, but he doesn't like crowds, and is worried about thousands of people travel ing into his city every day of the year. At the same time, though, he wanted the city's downtown to thrive.

So Gatewood went to see the authority's slides of renovated Moravian buildings and to listen to plans of shopping developments, restaurants and year-round downtown activity.

"The more I thought," he said last night, "I thought, hey, that doesn't sound bad. It could make living here a little more fun."

Gatewood was one of almost 200 city residents who came to a public hearing to discuss the plan's potential benefits and dangers. None of the two dozen speakers opposed expanding tourism, but some cautioned against risks if it is not controlled.

The authority's plan lists more than $30 million in potential projects, highlighted by an $8.6 million reconstruction of the 18th century Moravian industrial village along the Monocacy Creek west of Main Street.

There's also a community pavilion along the creek and a major expansion of the Main Street visitors center, which would become a high-tech "atheneum" to orient visitors. The authority hopes to get the plan in final form by January and start fund-raising.

"I think it's important to recognize that this is a plan. And like all plans, it will change, it will evolve," authority Chairman Neville Gardner told the crowd. "We don't want to turn Bethlehem into a madhouse. We want to preserve the ambience we have now."

After the plan hit the headlines last month, an ad hoc committee of people who live in the historic district began meeting to discuss its impact on their neighborhood. Their first meeting was occasionally angry, but members who spoke last night were more congenial.

Bill Fairbairn, who represented the group, urged the authority to take more time to consider parking, traffic and how to control what kinds of stores move in. Fairbairn was one of several people who asked for further evidence of tourism's financial benefit.

"It seems to me that the plan is very good on the glamorous aspects of tourism," Fairbairn said. "It neglects some of the more mundane aspects that any plan must have."

The group presented a list of steps it wants the authority to take, starting with a community impact statement by an independent consultant. One member, William Crawford, said he felt smaller projects had proven more successful than big ones.

"The city needs to continually invest in itself and support itself," Crawford said, "or we will go the way of our neighbors."

Many community groups involved with tourism sent representatives to the hearing, and they all spoke in favor of the plan. Some of the groups represented were the Historic Bethlehem Partnership, Historic Bethlehem Inc., South Bethlehem Historical Society and the Downtown Bethlehem Association.

Even one former downtown merchant whose business failed praised the plan. "In part, the Oxford Shop's failure was due to the lack of a city-coordinated plan to bring tourists or shoppers downtown," said Linda Robertson, now of the Historic Bethlehem Partnership.

Another view came from owner Kristen King-Murphy of Kristen's salon, who said she wasn't sure where service-oriented businesses fit in the plan. "What is it doing to businesses like mine that don't do retail?" King-Murphy asked.

"I have a real concern because I don't feel the type of business I do fits into tourism," she said. "Which types of businesses in downtown Bethlehem will tourism hinder, and which will it help?"

It is not clear how the authority will handle the input it gathered at the hearing. Gardner said members will decide that at another meeting, and afterward he said suggestions for more research on community impact and finances might be reasonable.

The plan was developed over the last year under a contract in which the authority hired Musikfest to run its day-to-day programs and help develop long-range plans. It characterizes promoting Bethlehem's history as an economic strategy that could create as many as 3,000 jobs.

It was that link between the city's heritage and its economic future that made some people at the hearing wary.

"I wish there could have been debate of this type when tourism became equated to economic development as the answer to Bethlehem's future," said Don Cunningham, who described himself as a lifelong resident who "loves Bethlehem's history and culture and heritage as much as anyone."

Cunningham said he wasn't opposed to the tourism plan, just cautious about whether its costs were being considered fully. "I think there's a fine line between celebrating Bethlehem's history and culture and exploiting it for gain."